This snake is a record for the state of Florida, but NOT for Burmese pythons. When I was a little younger, a friend of mine, George McDuffy, ( a ninth grade biology teacher ), had a Burmese that weighed about 140 lbs. Compared to the other larger species of pythons, the Burmese are "relatively" docile; ( as long as you keep them well fed )

I'm appalled by what has taken place in Florida over the last 25 or 30 years; they allow these things to be sold by pet shops while they're still 2 feet long, then because they grow fairly fast when they are fed well, they ALWAYS outgrow the owner's ability to keep them fed and housed in a reliable enclosure; then, at some point, 90% of them end up being set free on the side of a road. The states of Florida and Louisiana should get together and catch a few thousand Burmese in Florida and release them in the coastal swamps of Louisiana and let them help control the huge nutria "problem".

The snake problem in Florida is a real big problem now. These snakes need to be made illegal as pets. They recently had a hunting competition and the state gave who ever found the most snakes a cash prize. Maybe they should place a cash value on the snakes based on weight and give more incentive for more hunters to go out in the glades and catch these things.

"It was just four of us on the flight deck, trying to do our job" (Captain Al Haynes)

Quoting flymia (Reply 1): These snakes need to be made illegal as pets. They recently had a hunting competition and the state gave who ever found the most snakes a cash prize.

I think you'll find that they already HAVE been made illegal; the problem is, they waited about 20 years too long to make them illegal. And "illegality" isn't going to do squat for all of the hundreds ? Thousands ? tens of thousands ? of them that are crawling around, eating up indigenous animals, and breeding. Pythons have a LOT of young, and they grow fairly rapidly; add to that, they are EXTREMELY effective preditors; a python the size of the one in that picture would have no problem eating a 6 yr old child, or a 100 pound dog,

I have spent a lot of time slogging around in the swamps of Florida looking for snakes and I can tell you this for certainty; Florida is going to have a big python problem for a VERY long time to come!

Quoting BMI727 (Reply 2):I heard that clothiers were buying the snakes for their skins.

There has always been a big market for all kinds of reptile skins, and it's world wide; I don't see this having any significant effect on the immediate problem though; as always happens, the state waited many years too long to outlaw the importation and sale of these snakes to have much success getting rid of them now.

Based on what I already know about Burmese pythons, here's a prediction: this particular snake won't have the size record for very long; they get a LOT bigger than this one !

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein

I have never understood why people would want to have a snake for a pet. Feeding live animals to it, I mean what's the point?
Of course these owners want to look cool at a party with a snake hanging around their neck, but I find this rather appalling.

Quoting type-rated (Reply 7):I have never understood why people would want to have a snake for a pet. Feeding live animals to it, I mean what's the point?
Of course these owners want to look cool at a party with a snake hanging around their neck, but I find this rather appalling.

You're making some completely incorrect assumptions, right off the bat; first of which is, I have known a LOT of people who "kept" snakes (and various other reptiles), and I don't remember ANY of them who considered their snakes to be "pets". Secondly........you seem to be "against" feeding "live" animals to snakes; the reason is because MANY snakes only EAT live animals; then there are some which do very nicely on a diet of "dead" chicken necks; ( a beautiful Florida Indigo snake I once had.) ALL snakes are preditors; ( a few eat nothing but birds eggs ) NONE eat vegetables.

If you were a very keen observer of people in general, you would have noticed by now that ignorant people tend to do ignorant things, and serious people tend to do....serious things. As for the type of people who think going to a "party" with a snake hanging around their neck........that's NOT a person who is interested in snakes; that's a person who is "into" him/herself, and who thrives on drawing attention to him/herself; ( I tend to call such people "idiots" )

I have liked animals since I was about 2 years old; anything I like, or am interested in, I tend to want to know everything about it; I can think of few creatures that a large percentage of people are almost totally ignorant about, than snakes. Snakes are very unique creatures, partly because they all lack limbs; yet, in spite of this seeming handicap, they have been on this earth MUCH longer than humans have, and they have managed, (with NO limbs), to exist in a world where the vast majority of humans HATE them, (even though very few humans have the slightest idea, WHY they hate snakes); my best guess is.......because of ignorance. Humans "learn" from other humans; newborn babies neither "dislike" or "fear" snakes; they LEARN that from their parents and OTHER humans. The exact same thing is true, relative to why some people of some races and "religions" tend to "hate" any one who looks "different" than themselves.

I was very fortunate; my parents taught me early on that humans are NOT "like" animals, and that the things that make other people either "good" or "bad".........has nothing to do with their color or their shape, or where they came from.

Snakes are very interesting; even though they all may tend to look fairly similar to the casual observer, in actuality, they vary greatly as to the way they "get around", the ways they get their food, and even in the ways they reproduce.

I noticed early on that for the most part, young children tend to be much more curious about snakes than most adults; by the time I became an adult, I had already read most of the books written about snakes (and other reptiles), and I began to notice that lots of people asked me questions about snakes, because they knew I always seemed to have a few. Finally, I was asked to give a lecture about snakes to a class of 2nd grade children; ( I'll never forget when I showed up with a 7 ft boa constrictor, a copperhead, and by FAR, the best snake there is to lecture children with, a Florida King Snake.)

Every opportunity I have ever had to "educate" children about snakes, has almost certainly saved a LOT of snakes from being killed for absolutely no reason, after all of those children grew up. Almost all snakes are beneficial to people, yet most people neglect to find out WHY snakes are beneficial. Thousands of people in India are bitten every year by cobras; does this PROVE that cobras are BAD ? No it doesn't; it proves that there ARE a hell of a lot of cobras IN India, and that many people in India go barefoot, and are very careless about where they walk (in their bare feet) And I might mention, according to the World Health Organization, even though thousands of Indians die every year from cobra bites, it's estimated that even if ALL the cobras in India were killed, at least 10 times as many would die from disease, spread by all of the rats and mice that the cobras keep in check; ( now, if we could only get the poor people of India to wear shoes, and quit sleeping on the ground !)

Ask yourself this question; "What have I ever been able to teach young children that has had an influence in making them better people after they became adults" ? Quite unlike many adults I've seen and known, I have never attempted to poison children's minds with MY political views, or my religious views, but I have influenced quite a few children not to fear things, only because they don't understand them. None of my five children grew up with a fear of snakes, however I have yet to convince my oldest daughter that all spiders are not "bad".

That's basically why many people are fascinated by snakes, and many of them even enjoy keeping a few of them around to "observe", much like a lot of people like to keep tropical fish; they're just "interesting" to watch. You may think that all snakes "crawl"......they don't; it can't be easily explained with words, but trust me, snakes have MANY methods of moving themselves forward, (some of them quite rapidly, I might add)

[quote=RomeoBravo,reply=8]Most snake owners dont feed live.

That could easily be true for certain species of snakes, and it would also make it VERY inconvenient to keep certain other species. I have "kept" many species of snakes, and by far, my all around favorite of all snakes to keep, is just about any of the king snakes; and EVERy king snake I ever had did very well on a diet of white mice (which I raised for them to eat, and wild caught water snakes, which are the easiest (and quickest of all snakes to "collect quickly") So what you feed them all depends on what kinds of snakes you're talking about.

BTW...........the reason a LOT of people don't feed their snakes live prey.......has nothing to do with being "squeamish"......it's ALL about not wanting their prized (and often times very EXPENSIVE) snakes to ingest parasites which are present in many wild-caught prey animals. I had a friend who imported common snakes from Florida, then promptly froze them for a time to kill any parasites, before feeding them to his prized king cobra, (which at the time was VERY difficult to come by, and would now be almost impossible to buy, (without being a big ZOO.)

[Edited 2013-05-21 16:15:30]

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein

IDK, why do some people like dogs and others cats? Why do you like looking at airplanes? People just like different things, I don't think it goes deeper than that. The #1 reason would probably be "because snakes are cool" or something

Quoting Geezer (Reply 9):That could easily be true for certain species of snakes, and it would also make it VERY inconvenient to keep certain other species. I have "kept" many species of snakes, and by far, my all around favorite of all snakes to keep, is just about any of the king snakes; and EVERy king snake I ever had did very well on a diet of white mice (which I raised for them to eat, and wild caught water snakes, which are the easiest (and quickest of all snakes to "collect quickly") So what you feed them all depends on what kinds of snakes you're talking about.

It's actually illegal to feed invertebrates live to animals in the UK although obviously some people do anyway - but you'll never see feeder mice in the pet shops. Everything is frozen thawed. Mice, rats, chicks, guinea pigs, rabbits you name it.

I've never had a problem with them eating myself in fact i've never fed live in all my time keeping them. But i've only ever kept pythons no larger than Jungle Carpets - haven't got space for a monster snake.

It's a real pleasure to see a snake in the wild over here too. Think i've seen about 2 in my life.

2. I'm shocked that you support legislation of any kind controlling free enterprise!

3. Maverick beat me to the punch...convince Chow Yun Fat his peepee will stay hard into his 90's by drinking Florida python bile and voila!, problem resolved before the next Republican nut-bag moves into the White House.

If I hadn't gotten a "bug" for aviation and industrial design, I would probably have wound up being a herpetologist. For whatever reason I have always had a fascination for reptiles (including the extinct species , if they were in fact reptiles), and my mother would freak out at my home-built terrariums in the garage when we were living in Coral Gables, FL in the 1950-60's. Bill Haast (Miami Serpentarium) encouraged me, but he was also a flight engineer for Pan Am and somehow flying instead of slithering held more "weight".

Back then, the greater Miami area was almost developed as much as early Las Vegas was, meaning, walk about a beer's worth and you get into really neat critter natural habitats. 'Gators, snakes, lizards (my favorites) and inumerable creepy crawlers. I love Woody Allen's yell (what movie, I forgot) "There's roach in the bathtub the size of a '58 Buick!" I never liked the "palmetto" bugs (Woody's roach), scorpions, vinegar wigs and the occassional banana-imported tarantulas, etc. BUT...I loved the reptiles and can see the fascination (albeit probably misdirected and in many cases uncaring and ignorance in the minds of many private keepers of such animals) of wanting such a "pet". And as type-rated (Rep 7) states, some a$$holes think it's cool to show up at an event with a big (poor creature) snake around his/her neck.

I digress. The Florida problem is a real problem. Friends living there confirm that it has been a problem for some years now and is getting to the point that even if now extreme eradication action were implemented at this point, it would take years to balance the local ecology (and safety to some extent). Damn, I hate new laws but perhaps "reptile trafficking" should be on par with "drug trafficking" as far as penalties?

BTW, as per someone above...some reptiles will ONLY eat live food. Azontu (my boa in college) would only consume live small mice, hampsters, baby pidgeons, etc. I would put the prey in the bathtub (so they couldn"t escape up the slick porcelain sides) and there also was no left over debris field. kind regards...jack

Quoting cptkrell (Reply 14):Bill Haast (Miami Serpentarium) encouraged me, but he was also a flight engineer for Pan Am and somehow flying instead of slithering held more "weight".

Jack.......you never cease to amaze me ! You KNEW Bill Haast ? And Bill was a flight engineer ? I never knew that about him; talk about a HARD CORE Herp.......! Bill was!

About the big Florida python problem; it could have been a LOT worse; in case you're wondering how? ............
Back in the early 60's you didn't hear anything about "Burmese" pythons; back then, they called them "Indian" pythons; but regardless of which name you use to refer to them...........of all of the really big species of pythons, the Burmese are, by far, the "mildest mannered" of the big pythons. Most guys who keep snakes always tend to want what ever is ....the BIGGEST;

Among the big pythons, the Burmese are No. 2 in size, and are rarely known to attain a size of more than 25 feet, and around 250 lbs. in weight. On the other hand, the Reticulated Python of S.E. Asia is known to attain 33 feet, and maybe 300 lbs. But a lot of guys have tried keeping Retics, and very few kept them for long; they are VERY nasty, very ill-tempered, very hard to deal with; in other words..........who wants a great big snake that that's constantly trying to bite your arm off, and is NEVER in a "good mood"; as it turned out........not many did ! Retics also have a MUCH bigger head, very much bigger teeth, and they just refuse to let people drag them around and show them to all of your friends ! But Burmese WILL ! Compared to Retics, (or the African Rock Pythons), Burmese are more like "pussy cats" ! So the Burmese "caught on" with all of the amatuer herps, and just as all big snakes always do, they always end up getting "too" damned big to deal with, and now we are seeing the outcome of a population that started getting bigger and bigger, way back when. And as bad as you may think the present situation is, I can absolutely guarantee, that if the Retics had been the ones that "caught on", things would be VERY MUCH WORSE; (like now and then you'd be reading that msomeone has just been eaten by a big snake)

The big Burmese my friend had was dragged all over; in people's yards, in people's houses........one time George McDuffy stopped in a Sohio station to get gas; (back when they came out and pumped it for you........anyone remember that ? ) anyway, the guy was standing there, pumping gas in Georges station wagon, and the big snake was all coiled up in the back end, and just as the guy happened to glance in, the snake moved his head ! That guy took off running, and I'm not sure if he EVER came back ! Scared him to death ! Hell......you could have sat back there and rode with the damned snake !

The pythons and boas are by far, the oldest of all the 3,000 species of snakes; they go "back........waaaaay back"; hell...they use to have legs ! They STILL have the remanants of limbs; they are many, many times less intelligent, less aware, than some of the more recent snakes, such as the vipers. What they DO have, are several extremely highly developed sensory mechanisms; their sense of smell is phenominal; ( George McDuffy found that out the hard way ) He had been feeding rats to a rattlesnake, and his hands had the "scent" of rats on them; when he started to move the big guy, the thing grabbed his hand, and proceeded to start swallowing ! when it got to his thumb, it apparently realized something was not right, so it just held on! George sat down in a big rocking chair, his hand in this huge snake's mouth, half of the snake in his lap......and waited.......for like TWO HOURS ! Finally, the snake let go; had that happened with a retic........he would have lost his hand, and possibly his whole arm; ( I doubt if even a ritic could have swallowed George,,,, he was a pretty big guy ).

So be very glad that the herps of the early 60's didn't start keeping Retics instead of Burmese.

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein

Quoting flymia (Reply 1):These snakes need to be made illegal as pets.

Agreed!

Quoting flymia (Reply 1):Maybe they should place a cash value on the snakes based on weight and give more incentive for more hunters to go out in the glades and catch these things.

We should also place a cash value on the jerks that release these in to the wild in Florida.

Quoting RomeoBravo (Reply 6):Burms do not eat humans. In fact no snake go after humans - shoulders are too broad.

A small kid or a baby can be consumed by a large python. It's happened before here in southeast Asia.

Quoting type-rated (Reply 7):I have never understood why people would want to have a snake for a pet.

It's for guys with little peckers and feel a need to compensate.
I'm glad I was already born with a large snake...

Quoting type-rated (Reply 7):Of course these owners want to look cool at a party with a snake hanging around their neck, but I find this rather appalling.

I think they look really stupid.

Quoting MaverickM11 (Reply 11):Tell China their dried and fermented toes are powerful aphrodisiacs and they'll be extinct by the end of the year

Haha!

Quoting cptkrell (Reply 14):I digress. The Florida problem is a real problem. Friends living there confirm that it has been a problem for some years now

I have a friend that lives there in Florida. I remember chatting with him on his mobile phone while he was driving (hands free). Then he parks and gets out of the car and shout; "Holy f--king $h!t!"
He had almost stepped on one while getting out of the car in a parking lot next to a grassy field.

Yes, Charley, I first met Bill Haast at one of his presentations to Jr. High School class in Coral Gables. Of course he invited the class to the serpentarium; I visited and was hooked, so to speak. He taught me how to construct cheap but healthy, efficient home terrariums. World famous for milking venomous snakes to develop anti-serums and also injecting himself daily to stay alive he saved many a snakebite victim. And, after being bitten himself hundreds (if not thousands) of times, I read that he passed away a couple of years ago at the age 100 of natural causes!

Unfortunately, places like legal serpentariums are partially responsible for the snake population increase in Florida as many reptiles are blown away or washed away into the wild as result of hurricanes. I remember reading an estimate of escaped critters (after Hurricane Charley, Charley ). I can't recall specific numbers, but it was substantial. And of course FL is a perfect survival and breeding habitat for even most "imported" reptiles.

It is against the law to keep snakes and turtles (don't know about lizards) as "pets" in Tennessee. Maybe should be in FL, also? All best...jack

Quoting Superfly (Reply 16):A small kid or a baby can be consumed by a large python. It's happened before here in southeast Asia.

Its happened here in Florida too - a couple years back a baby was eaten by a snake that got out of its cage in a trailer (go figure). These things have been known to eat large alligators. what will stop it from eating a kid?

Quoting airportugal310 (Reply 3):Normally I'd be "against" this sort of thing but in Florida I think it's at the breaking point (or well past) and its a good incentive

I'm against animal cruelty, but they need to get rid of these snakes before they wipe out native species, some of which are endangered

This sort of stupidity isn't limited to trailer type folks. I knew several enlighten hipsters in San Francisco that owned large snakes and live in apartments with other tenants. Often times the neighbors don't even know. In fact, I knew a lady many years ago in LA that was a total Hollywood wannabe and hob-knobber with celebs. She lived in a large apartment complex and thought it would be cool and trendy to buy a boa constrictor. It got lost for several weeks in her building. It was eventually found slithering through the vent of another unit two floors down almost month later. It was already 5 feet long when it was found. Could have strangled a baby or small child to death at that size. Luckily her dumb@$$ was evicted as a result.
A few years ago when I lived in San Francisco, a neighbor in a shared flat next door had a 4 foot long Burmese python. He considered himself and 'artist'. In reality he was just a loud obnoxious little punk. A short 5',4", 22 year old brat that liked to make a lot of noise and compensate for being short. He didn't know I was friends with his landlord and he wasn't impressed by his 'artist' tenant. He was kicked out several days later after his artistic photo shoot of himself holding his python. He even let it slither around the yard unattended on several occasions. I took a few photos just to show the landlord.
Many people that buy these as pets are so inconsiderate of their neighbors.

Quoting cptkrell (Reply 17):Unfortunately, places like legal serpentariums are partially responsible for the snake population increase in Florida as many reptiles are blown away or washed away into the wild as result of hurricanes. I remember reading an estimate of escaped critters (after Hurricane Charley, Charley ). I can't recall specific numbers, but it was substantial. And of course FL is a perfect survival and breeding habitat for even most "imported" reptiles.

Hurricane Andrew was the beginning of this. Like you said the numbers that had been washed into the swamps after those Hurricanes was tremendous and has more to do with this than the releasing by pet owners.

Quoting Geezer (Thread starter):The states of Florida and Louisiana should get together and catch a few thousand Burmese in Florida and release them in the coastal swamps of Louisiana and let them help control the huge nutria "problem".

Quoting Superfly (Reply 19):It was already 5 feet long when it was found. Could have strangled a baby or small child to death at that size.

Larry, you have just demonstrated that you don't know anything about snakes; Boa Constrictors don't crawl around, looking for babies to "strangle" or small children to "squeeze to death" ! In fact, a 5 ft Boa finding it's way into a nursery full of babies wouldn't pose any threat to any of the babies; Pythons and Boas are quite low on the intelligence scale, but they do have enough sense to know what is "prey", and what is not, and I can assure you, new born infants are NOT on a 5 ft boa's list of menue items.

Quoting Superfly (Reply 19): a neighbor in a shared flat next door had a 4 foot long Burmese python.

Ditto all the above for the 4 ft Burmese Python, the problem here being, many of the 4 footers don't STAY 4 footers all that long, and by the time they become maybe 8 or 9 footers, you might want to start keeping them out of the nursery.

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein

Quoting Superfly (Reply 16):Quoting flymia (Reply 1):
These snakes need to be made illegal as pets.

Agreed!

What I don't understand is why anyone would want that for a pet. They don't do anything. Just sit in a coil on their heat rock all day. I'll bet I could chuck my cousin's snake in a trash bin and replace it with a rubber model & she'd never notice.

Quoting Superfly (Reply 19):Could have strangled a baby or small child to death at that size. Luckily her dumb@$$ was evicted as a result.

Good.

Be A Perfectionst, You're Nothing If You're Just Another; Something Material, This Isn't Personal...

Quoting Darksnowynight (Reply 28):What I don't understand is why anyone would want that for a pet. They don't do anything. Just sit in a coil on their heat rock all day.

As I've already pointed out, most people don't regard snakes as pets; Yes, many snakes DO spend a considerable amount of time "coiled up", "stretched out". or otherwise motionless, but that's just what snake do; They're reptiles.....exothermic creatures with much slower metabolism than any mammal........but they are extremely interesting; another thing about keeping snakes that many people really appreciate.......they are many times easier to take care of, feed and maintain than any small warm blooded mammal; if you go on vacation for two or three weeks, all you need to provide is a bit of warmth, and a small amount of water; the snake will be fine when you return !

There's even more.......almost everyone has a dog or a cat; either one requires quite a lot of care; ( I spend half of my time feeding my 3 dogs and 2 cats, plus I clean the litter box every time either cat uses it; I'm not complaining, as I'm very fond of my cats, but many (if not all) working people lack the necessary time that I have to take care of their animals; and many people simply enjoy having a snake around to "observe"; when I had a large Boa, a small crocodile, an indigo snake and several king snakes, a lot of the local teens loved to come to our house and just watch the Boa crawl around; Boas use a completely different means of "locomotion" that most other snakes use; it's impossible to describe, but many people find it quite fascinating to observe; and the big snake makes NO sound what-so-ever, plus NEVER closes his eyes, or even "blinks"; ( with no eye lids, there's nothing to close, or nothing to blink ! )

Something people who are unfamiliar with snakes often seem surprised by...........almost every species of snakes exhibit very different behavior; most venomous species are very reclusive, very nervous, don't like people to be around them, and of course, you obviously don't dare to let anyone handle a venomous species; on the other hand, king snakes almost seem to enjoy being handled, are very alert, and will accept and eat prey animals instantly, (which a lot of people are fascinated to watch. ) With snakes, everything they do is by "instinct"; they only move if and when they need more (or less) light, more (or less) warmth, or if they feel hunger and need to find prey ; very few snakes EVER get "excited", they never get bored, lonely, are completely content to be totally solitary, and I seriously doubt if they ever worry; add all of these things up, plus the fact that they have NO limbs, and you have a very interesting creature, if only because they are so different from all other animals.

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein

That's two snake owners that I know of that were evicted for owning one. Most rental contracts are specific about pet ownership. On both occasions, the snake owner just assumed that no one would find out. That in and of it's self is deceitful and inconsiderate of the people that live next to them. I'm sure many respectful and considerate dog & cat owners were turned down to rent out those apartments that those inconsiderate snake owners were able to rent.
If you have your own house and live out in the country, then owning a snake is fine.

Quoting Geezer (Reply 25):Boa Constrictors don't crawl around, looking for babies to "strangle" or small children to "squeeze to death"

That may be true but what if the snake is hungry? Considering this particular snake was out of it's natural habitat inside the walls of an apartment building in Los Angeles, it's possible that it could have posed a threat. It was in a nice clean apartment building with no rats to to eat. Who knows how it would have reacted and/or how a small kid would react when seeing this monster slither through a vent. You described a boa constrictor in an ideal situation. This particular boa was out of it's element for a considerable long time.

Coincidental to this thread, last night (actually it was the wee hours of this morning) there was a piece on "Animal Planet" about what I perceived to be the FL snake problem. They showed a 7 or so foot long (consdtrictor of some species... I was half asleep at the time) striking at a professional snake handler, mouth open much like a venomous species. The mouth was huge when open and I haven't seen, or don't remember seeing, restrictors exhibit this type of aggressive striking behaviour, but the animal was being "threatened" by the handler. I'm going to try and track down this episode and watch it in its entirety when I'm fully awake. I believe the message was if you find a really big guy out on your back porch, best be very cautious and call for professional help.

My "pet" Boa of decades ago was very docile and "omly" about 5-foot.. Never had a problem with her until she escaped. Roomate left a door cracked open when I was at classes. regards...jack

[quote=Superfly,reply=30]That may be true but what if the snake is hungry? Considering this particular snake was out of it's natural habitat inside the walls of an apartment building in Los Angeles, it's possible that it could have posed a threat. It was in a nice clean apartment building with no rats to to eat. Who knows how it would have reacted and/or how a small kid would react when seeing this monster slither through a vent.

That's a fair question and I'll try to answer it, Larry; first of all.......let's talk about the people who own and keep snakes; as you know, "people" tend to vary considerably; overall, I would say that about 3/4 of the individuals who keep snakes have absolutely NO business with them; these are the "look at me" types, the idiot, fringe type who always want to attract attention to themselves; they have NO regard whatever for the snakes, they generally have very minimal knowledge about reptiles in general, and IMO, these types of people shouldn't be trusted with snakes OR guns. Only educated, responsible people having an abiding interest in herpetology should be allowed to keep snakes; ANY animal which is "kept" by anyone, whether as a "pet", and "exhibit" animal, or whatever, should only be allowed to be kept by responsible people who have an interest in the overall welfare of the "animal" being "kept". Snakes in apartment buildings.....NEVER a good idea, IMO. (And almost never legal, either.)

Now.....about your fears regarding the captive boa constrictors which occasionally DO get loose in an apartment building;

First, as I have already mentioned, the snake shouldn't have been there in the first place; second; you may think that someone desiring to keep a boa (or other relatively small snake) in an apartment building, could do so surreptitiously, and no one would know about it; this seldom works for very long; people ALWAYS find out WHO keeps snakes; when it becomes known, there is almost always a big "flap"; ( snake AND OWNER are usually victed shortly thereafter.) Snakes that DO escape owners in apartment buildings; this varies greatly, and is of course, completely dependent on many things; species of snake, size, etc. etc. As far as boa constrictors are concerned, unless the boa is 8 or 9 ft., there is nothing to worry about; you mentioned a "monster snake" in the walls, unable to find rats to eat; here's where knowledge of snakes comes in; most snakes, and ALL boas, pythons, and anacondas are VERY low on the intelligence scale; but having said that, they DO have an amazing ability to seek out, and find suitable prey; in addition to that, completely UNLIKE certain other reptiles, such as alligators, crocodiles and monitor lizards, most large constrictors prey on a fairly limited number of things; IOW, a 6 or 7 ft boa has never eaten a baby, wouldn't be able to, even if he wanted to, and wouldn't even TRY to; he's looking for a rat, a mouse, a bird, a squirell, or ANY small animal; and to answer your question.....any boa (or small python) unable to find suitable prey in that apartment building, isn't going to BE in that apartment building very long; he may be very low in intelligence, but he DOES have sensory apparatus enabling him to find suitable prey, over a VERY broad range. Not only that, snakes don't eat 3 times a day like people do; they usually eat if and when suitable prey becomes available. A boa escaping his cage in a populated building isn't going to "starve to death" in a week, or even a month; that's where having a VERY low metabolic rate comes in; as one poster noted, snakes "just lay there"; that's very true.........most of the time; when they NEED to move, (such as when they are about to catch a prey animal, they move quickly. ( but that varies greatly between different species of snakes ) If you're ever in Africa and come across a black mamba, I suggest you run the other way as fast as you're able to; mambas are VERY quick, and if one bites you, I hope you're very near proper medical attention.

Here's a true story about "escapee" snakes from my "snake keeping" days; a well known "herp" in Cincinnati that I occasionally hunted rattlesnake with, was a fellow named Jim Coffee; this guy had every snake known to science at one time or another; he had people all over Africa and Asia sending him reptiles; on one occasion he received a blue krait from SE Asia; kraits are members of the same family of snakes as the cobras; they are all fairly small, usually no more than 3 or 4 ft; they are not particularly aggressive, but their venom is HIGHLY toxic; like mambas, do not get bitten by a krait; anyway, while opening up a few bags of snakes he had just received by air mail, this small 3 ft blue krait "escaped" in Coffee's kitchen; he and his wife searched for it for a week ! ( with zero success ) so here they are, living in this old two story house, with a 3 ft blue krait "at large" for something like two months ! Finally, the krait made an appearance, crawling out from under a couch in the living room, and Coffe caught it and stuck it back in a cage out back in his "serpentarium".

While I'm thinking of Jim Coffee and his unusual wife..........Coffee had this BIG alligator named "George"; ( George alternated being owned by Jim Coffee, and George Mc Duffee ) George was raised from a baby by these two guys, and spent probably 3/4 of his whole life living in George McDuffy's 9th grade biology class room at Mt. Washington Jr. High School, in Eastern Cincinnati. Geroge was about as tame as alligators ever get; and he was about half again as heavy as a wild alligator his length, which was about 7 feet at the time I hung around with Jim Coffee; anyway, Coffee was a maintenance guy at Christ Hospital in downtown Cincinati; he fequently worked nights at the hospital; Coffees house was a real old two story, with a stairway from the first floor up to the second floor, which was VERY steep; (almost straight up !) George had the "run of the house", but he NEVER "ran", and usually just "layed there" in the kitchen; the reason he was so big, was because he got so much to eat; squirrels, rabbits, possums, ground hogs, dogs, cats, ANYTHING that had been run over by cars between Mt. Washington (in eastern Cincinnati), and Christ Hospital, downtown,) Now....during the warmer summer months, George usually contented himself by laying on the kitchen floor; (more chance for a "snack" in the kitchen); but during the colder winter months..........(remember, alligators are reptiles, and they prefer where it's warm, and they have an amazing ability to find where it's warm); so in the winter, George, this 400 pound alligator, climbed up the steep steps to the upstairs, climbed UP, and INTO the bed, UNDER the blankets, and spent the night "snuggled up" with Mrs. Coffee, while Mr. Coffee is working nights ! These people were TRUE HERPS ! They were just very "into" reptiles. I don't recommend people keeping highly venomous species of snakes in their homes, but I've known a few who did; neither Jim Coffee or George McDuffy were ever bitten by a venomous snake, and both of them handled thousands of them over a long period. My "interest" in snakes was kept in check by a wife who just BARELY tolerated a few king snakes, an occasional Boa or small python, and an ocasional indigo snake; (non of which pose the slightest threat to anyone.)

Whether you like them and enjoy keeping them, or whether you're scared to death of them and think you hate them, snakes (and all reptiles) have been on planet earth MUCH, MUCH longer than humans have, and they occupy a very important place in the general scheme of things; they are an essential part of nature; they have far more importance AND benefit to humans than most humans realize; without snakes, India would be up to their eyeballs in rats; the fact that many poor people in India are bitten (and die) every year by cobras IS tragic, but it could be very easily reduced in numbers by very slight changes in habits of people. Why do Indians do the things they do ? You'd have to ask them; but I can tell you one thing about one particular Indian, Dr. Kumar Guarav, ( my dear wife's nephrologist ) There is no finer, no nicer, no better kidney doctor in the U.S. than our dear friend, Dr. Guarav ! Thank heavens he came to this country to practice medicine ! The same goes for Dr. S. Patel, my Cardiologist, although I don't see him very often now, since he got me "straightened out".

I feel just like most of you do about snakes being kept by irresponsible people; but it's NOT the snakes you should be worrying about; it's the irresponsible people !

Charley

[Edited 2013-05-25 15:55:41]

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein

Quoting Geezer (Reply 32):, I would say that about 3/4 of the individuals who keep snakes have absolutely NO business with them; these are the "look at me" types, the idiot, fringe type who always want to attract attention to themselves;